A kickass subcategory of heavy metal that is a combination of goth rock and heavy metal. Usually, but not always, has a gorgeous in sight and sound female vocalist as the lead singer and unfortinatly in alot of cases has a male vocalist who cannot sing but can only speak and growl like a death metal vocalist. But not always. Sometimes the male lead singer can sing or if it is a female and male singer the guy can sing.

Uses keyboards alot and lyrics are typically about religion and God, heaven and hell, romance, horror, depression, bereavement, emptyness, and death. As for an image, they usually have a form of a gothic image but has is not the stereotypical goth look.

Popular in Scandinavia and Western Europe.

Theatre of Tragedy, Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Tristania, Sins of Thy Beloved, After Forever and Paradise Lost just to name a few.

There is much confusion about this term. It appears to have two meanings:

1: Same as Gothic Metal. People often call gothic metal "goth metal" because they assume the two words are interchangable, or because they assume that because it's called "gothic" it must have something to do with goth. It does not.

2: Any metal that so-called goths (usually wannabe goths) listen to. Could be anything from Nightwish to Slipknot depending on the whim of the speaker. This is a ficticous genre, ie there is no such thing as "goth metal"!! Gothic Rock and Metal are POLLS APART!!!
There is no genre of goth music which sounds anthing like metal. Period. Although there is no reason a goth cannot have a varied music taste, there is no connection whatsoever between goth and any form of metal.

more about the image than the music; you know those eye-make-up-wearing freaks with excessive jewelry, chromey studs and (of course) layers upon layer of black leather or cotton? that's the image; the music could manifest as death, gore, black, doom, whatever... usually hella keyboards like industrial, but more melody than distortion. but don't take it all too seriously. this is one image best seen as the bulge in one's cheek.